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lenavasilyeva's review against another edition
inspiring
lighthearted
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
emjay796's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
"The lady through whom love binds you so is not like other ladies."
Dante is the og Main Character Syndrome protagonist, and I will never get tired of it. I read and studied The Divine Comedy intensely as an undergrad, and that work is correctly placed as Dante's enduring contribution to the world. However, it bothered me I never got around to Vita Nuova, and this month, I decided to remedy that.
More than anything, Vita Nuova is an exploration of love and romantic devotion as ideals... adoration focused on a particular, sublime object. A groundbreaking work in vernacular Italian (instead of Latin), Dante attempts to elevate the courtly love poem from the realm of the self to the realm of the sacred. Reading Dante's commentary was especially lovely—yes, it made me laugh more than once for how simultaneously on-the-nose and superior it appears, but what an incredible thing to be able to hear from Dante how he would interpret his own work.
Dante, Beatrice, the Lord of Love—what a fascinating cast of characters in a fascinating era of the world with fascinating views of love and life and what it might mean to transcend it all.
Dante is the og Main Character Syndrome protagonist, and I will never get tired of it. I read and studied The Divine Comedy intensely as an undergrad, and that work is correctly placed as Dante's enduring contribution to the world. However, it bothered me I never got around to Vita Nuova, and this month, I decided to remedy that.
More than anything, Vita Nuova is an exploration of love and romantic devotion as ideals... adoration focused on a particular, sublime object. A groundbreaking work in vernacular Italian (instead of Latin), Dante attempts to elevate the courtly love poem from the realm of the self to the realm of the sacred. Reading Dante's commentary was especially lovely—yes, it made me laugh more than once for how simultaneously on-the-nose and superior it appears, but what an incredible thing to be able to hear from Dante how he would interpret his own work.
Dante, Beatrice, the Lord of Love—what a fascinating cast of characters in a fascinating era of the world with fascinating views of love and life and what it might mean to transcend it all.
casparb's review
Thought I'd reread this frisky number & my preferred way of acclimatising to the form is to conceive of Dante as That One Poet at the reading who spends ten minutes introducing a two minute poem.
Love the story of Dante crushing on Beatrice so hard he decides he to claim affection for a 'screen' Lady & then writes a poem listing the sixty most attractive women in the city, with Beatrice at 9 because 3+3+3. And lo Facebook was born
Love the story of Dante crushing on Beatrice so hard he decides he to claim affection for a 'screen' Lady & then writes a poem listing the sixty most attractive women in the city, with Beatrice at 9 because 3+3+3. And lo Facebook was born
jojo_27's review against another edition
3.0
I need to give this a re-read, but when I read it in college, I just remember being exasperated at how whiny he was the whole time. At least in the Divine Comedy, he DOES something. Beautiful writing, though, of course.
blairrose22's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
catsandteabooks's review against another edition
4.5
Such an interesting insight into Dante's mind and poetry and a lot easier to read than the Comedy.
lizziemcherring's review against another edition
2.0
Read for school. Almost threw it out the window I was so bored. Don’t understand why Boccaccio was obsessed w Dante.
alisonjfields's review against another edition
5.0
Yes. Beautiful. Profound. Sublime. A rare look inside the mind of the author of one of the Greatest Hits Of All Time. But I'd feel bad if I didn't extend this likely tasteless pop cultural metaphor and tell you that "La Vita Nuova" is sort of the Early Italian Renaissance version of VH1's "Storytellers." Rich with self-aggrandizement, detailed in its recounting of how one man needlessly complicated his writing and romantic life by picking surrogates to his surrogate inamorata because his actual inamorata was the textbook definition of unavailable and stinking slightly of what the more polite among us refer to as poetic license, "La Vita Nuova" might be the most unintentionally hilarious book about writing I've ever read from the man who sent pretty much everyone he ever know to hell. And still better than "Paradiso," to boot!
naya16's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5